5 Good Reasons You’re Not Getting That Trick

Today, Dear Danglers, I got a trick I have been working hard on for over half a year. I call them “Wet Towels”, and they aren’t considered a particularly difficult move on wheel. They terrified me in the beginning, then just started really pissing me off. I might get them once or twice, celebrate and think I had them, and then they would disappear for the next 6 weeks, when I’d get another one, celebrate, think I had it, you get the picture. This cycle made for some very, very tense wheel training, usually resulting in me sobbing in a heap on the floor (Chris’s FAVORITE part of class). But a few weeks ago, something clicked, and suddenly, I was getting most of my towels over! And today, I got 4 out of 4 – a new record.

Why This Is A Big Deal

… because I secretly thought I would never get them. Now, I talk a good game to my students. They hear, “If you train it, it will come!” ad nauseum; and I believe that, I do! Just not when it came to me and my towels. So today, I stand before you as living proof that IF YOU TRAIN IT, IT WILL COME! I know some of you are struggling with certain moves (inverts come immediately to mind), so I wanted to have a quick look at what may be keeping you from the aerial awesomeness you crave in a particular trick.

You just learned it. There are some things you’re just not going to get right out of the gate! This is the time to have a good laugh, go through it a few times, and repeat to yourself: “If circus were easy, they would call it tag!”

You’re not strong enough. Some moves take a level of strength and body awareness that you may not have cultivated yet. Can you break it down into smaller bits to practice? Ask your coach! A good teacher can break ANY move down into little bitty bits if that’s what works for you. Trust me – with consistent training, you will get strong enough to do whatever your little heart desires!

It’s hard and takes a lot of practice. Some moves are just plain difficult. Really – that’s it. Instead of trying to get the whole shebang, see if you can focus on a part of the whole, like keeping your leg straight, or not swearing when it bends.

You’re letting yourself off the hook too easily. Sometimes, you don’t really want to do a trick, so you make sure you can’t. Or, you may not be holding yourself to a high enough standard. It’s OK to let yourself off the hook sometimes, just make sure it doesn’t become an everyday thing.

You’re scared. It’s OK to be scared! A healthy respect for what we do is what keeps us from falling on our heads! Again: break it down. Modify. When you feel brave enough to do the whole thing, feel the fear and do it anyway. Make sure you’re comfy enough not to spaz!

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!!!!

When you finally get that move that has been plaguing you for days, weeks, months, or years, CELEBRATE! Do a little dance, squeal, jump up and down, put your wheel instructor in a head lock (my preferred expression of celebration), but please PLEASE don’t sweep it under the rug! When you brush off a major victory, you downplay all your hard work, and are a total Debbie Downer. Nobody likes a Debbie Downer, so give yourself a pat on the back already! And remember, IF YOU TRAIN IT, IT WILL COME, GRASSHOPPER! Love and pull-ups, Laura

Big thanks to the best wheel teacher on the planet. Here are my Towels. They ain’t pretty, but they ARE over! Pass me a margarita!

As always, if you like this post, share it on your blog, the F-books, Twitter, and wherever else you crazy kids are sharing things these days.

“Celebrate” is a completely new angle for me….I’m definitely going to try this now. I come from old school–Russian/Soviet gymnastics–style where anything you did was not rewarded, but, rather, you still were never good enough…if you achieved anything, it was just…nothing. Because there always been someone better than you at it, and you still just weren’t good enough. I learned this habit of putting myself down and thinking of myself of not strong enough, etc, and any achievement was just “ordinary” and still thinking “been too easy on myself”–even when you overtrain until injury point. Perhaps, it’s been a source of major de-motivation and me quitting training at times? I’m going to try to celebrate all little achievements now instead of thinking “this cirque du soleil performer is better than me and will always be so why do I even bother with this training, I should just do crossfit or something”…